EXPECTATIONS OF LASER TREATMENT FOR VITREOUS EYE FLOATERS

EXPECTATION OF RESULTS FOR TREATMENT OF EYE FLOATERS WITH THE YAG LASER

It is important to define a successful treatment of vitreous eye floaters with a YAG laser. It is impossible to return the vitreous to the state that it was back when you were 13 years old. The endpoint of treatment has a more varied and softer set of definitions.

THE GOALS OF TREATMENT ARE:
1. Improving the quality of vision and quality of life.
2. Decreasing the amount, mass, volume, and awareness of the bothersome eye floaters.
3. Returning the floater sufferer to the state of ‘normal’ floaters, prior to their being so bothersome.
4. Allowing the patient to return to their activities of daily living to where they can go long stretches of time without being aware or be significantly bothered by their floaters.
5. No complications or untoward side effects of the procedure including NO PAIN or discomfort. (read about potential risks here)
6. Stable results.
7. A happy patient very pleased to have undergone the procedure (read testimonials)

Fortunately, these goals can usually be met in most cases for those that are candidates for treatment. Compared to many of the other procedures performed in the sub-specialty of ophthalmology, we have to deal with a wider range of outcomes. For instance, a cataract surgeon be quite confident that they are “100% done” at the end of cataract surgery. A LASIK surgeon may be around 95% certain that they are done after a single procedure. The treatment of floaters is an entirely different experience. Some patients may only need one or two procedures, and some procedures that are much more complex and may need three or four or more. Dr. Johnson is usually able to predict the time of the evaluation and consultation the type, complexity, and whether the treatment of that particular eye will be relatively simple or much more complex needing more procedures.

The Floater Doctor has been performing laser treatments of eye floaters since 2007 with thousands of complex procedures and millions of laser bursts performed in the treatment of eye floaters. He is one of the most experienced doctors in the world for this procedure, and particularly has built his reputation by treating the most complex vitreous degenerative conditions as well as those deemed “untreatable” by other laser surgeons.

There are some intrinsic differences in the behavior of some floaters compared to others in the response to treatment with the laser. Simpler, isolated and well-defined floaters like the Weiss ring type, generally require less overall treatment. Other larger and more distributed floaters like the cloudy, syneresis type will not only require more overall treatment, but they are characterized by the tendency towards regression / re-formation / re-aggregation of some of the floater material after treatment. These treatments may feel like a journey consisting of three or four steps forward and then one or two steps backwards. We do not consider this a complication of the procedure, but just part of the procedure for that particular type of floater. Dr. Johnson will be able to determine the type of floater at the time of the evaluation and consultation.

Prognosticating the degree of complexity of the treatment series is not an exact science and the only guarantee offered is that Dr. Johnson will give 100% effort and do his best for the particular condition as it presents itself.